Xapo holding my bitcoin hostage for seven days!!!

[CHRISBIN702]

Xapo. Xapo. Xapo. We had a good thing going. I would deposit MY BTCitcoin into my Xapo wallet. Then I would use my bitcoin when and where I wanted to use it. It was a wonderful relationship. 
   Then, I wake up this morning and everything had changed. Your not the same Xapo I knew yesterday and every day before that. Now, out of nowhere, I can't use my bitcoin. My Email, Password, PIN, 2FA, and Device Verification Code Sent Through Text are no longer good enough to use MY OWN BITCOIN!!. I receive an email from them shortly after several failed attempts at moving some coin around. It says something to the effect of:

Dear User, you have two choices.

• 1. You can verify your identity by sending in even more personal information than is required to enter the White House or...
• 2. You can close your account and we will gladly send your Bitcoin to an external address. Because we suck and Bill Clinton is mad at us.

    Ok. The Bill Clinton part I may have added myself but a few readers here should know why that's funny. So to make a long story end. I broke up with Xapo today and they didn't take it too well. I thought we could have a clean split but there is always a way for one party to draw these things out. They only "PROCESS REFUNDS" once a week and I should receive mine within 7 DAYS. ???REFUNDS?!?! Last I checked, that was my Bitcoin. I was able to use it how I saw fit just yesterday. Well There is my rant. For the most part. Xapo. You changed. I wish I could say "It's not you, it's me". But that would be untrue. It's you. You Suck. I want my Bitcoin. You Suck.

   

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[Yuuto]

They technically aren't doing anything wrong because I'm sure these changes unannounced are still a part of their ToS agreement with you, and you can still withdraw without any worries, just use Coinbase or something else.

Also, provide images?

[bitkilo]

Sorry to say but i only had to read the first line to see where you went wrong, you used an online wallet to store bitcoins.
And this is probably not what you want to hear but technically they never were your bitcoins because you didn't have control over the private keys.

Best of luck with the "refund" and i hope all goes well for you in the end, let this be a lesson learnt - if you don't control the private keys you don't control the bitcoins.

[CHRISBIN702]

Thank you both for responding. Their terms of use absolutely say they are doing nothing wrong. That is the beauty of the TOU's.  This does not mean that it is right. I'm not too concerned about getting my 0.05 BTC back, as I'm sure they will transfer it within their timeframe. The real issue here that I wanted to bring to light was the sudden change in policy. I'm not sure if any one here is familiar with the new "identity verification" over there at Xapo. It is outrageous. The sudden "We need to know everything about you, your residence, your income, and geographical location" approach is a bit excessive. I could run for office and provide less info. Knowing now who operates this data mine, it doesn't surprise me one bit. I'm not going to slander people I know little about though. I will however voice my extreme dissatisfaction with the service that was once very convenient to use.

 Bitkilo. I have researched most aspects regarding Bitcoin/Blockchain/FinTech. I am aware of how stupid I have been with my wallet choices. I am a sucker for convenience and yes, a valuable lesson has been learned today. If there is a specific route you could recommend for taking control of my Bitcoin or a secure way to create my own paper wallet, that would be great. If not, no prob. I can have the good ol' internet tell me what to do. Thanks for reading. I feel better now.

[CHRISBIN702]

UPDATE

So I decided that waiting 7 days was unacceptable. I reached out to support, once again, and requested that instead of closing my account and giving me the 7 day punishment, they should instead verify my identity, or my existence or whatever they've been trying prove. Without any hassle, they cancelled my cancellation and gave me back the illusion of control over my Bitcoin.
     I have got to give credit where credit is due. Since about 8:00 a.m. US Pacific Time 11/01/2016, they (Mary and Jesse) responded to me via email 5 times. Only 1 of those 5 was a robot. That is actually impressive to have a real life human write you back so many times with real life human words and thoughts.(If you've ever been to a Microsoft forum you will know why this is refreshing) I will still be creating my own private key and transferring my coin over to it.
    It is now 6:30 a.m. 11/02/2016 Pacific Time and Xapo has handed this negotiation well. All my little hostages are safe and accounted for.Thanks Mary and Jesse for getting this matter resolved in less than 24 hours. You don't suck. Sorry for the harsh words earlier.

[ogv]

I have the similar problem with Xapo. But I cant contact with xapo support service. There are no acceptable email. Maybe you post here an email address that you use to contact to xapo support. Thanks.

[CHRISBIN702]

jessie@xapo-321e581ef7b1.mail.intercom.io

This is the email I was using. Good luck. I had to jump through hoops. Be a thorn in their side and post a link to this thread in your email. That will get results.

[beerlover]

I have the similar problem with Xapo. But I cant contact with xapo support service. There are no acceptable email. Maybe you post here an email address that you use to contact to xapo support. Thanks.

Just follow and complete their 'contact us' page : https://tpi.xapo.com/contact-us/?lang=en#
You will be contacted through your email most of the time within 24 hrs. when I faced problems with my Google authentication, they come up with right root cause of my problem.

[Hazir]

Sorry to say but i only had to read the first line to see where you went wrong, you used an online wallet to store bitcoins.

Not every online wallet is the same. Only Xapo, Coinbase and Circle have history locking users account, asking for verification and tracing transaction.
This kind of problem never happened to anyone who used blockchain.info - mainly because. Don't be baited by Xapo's "no transaction fees" marketing.

[bL4nkcode]

~snip~

You are right, that's the disadvantages of no fee transaction of those web wallet services. And for all bitcoin users of coinbase and xapo just be aware and be careful that this site are only waiting their users that once you've done that is not right from that site's TOS then your coins will be locked up as the exchange of no fee transaction just my opinion.

[bitkilo]

Sorry to say but i only had to read the first line to see where you went wrong, you used an online wallet to store bitcoins.

Not every online wallet is the same. Only Xapo, Coinbase and Circle have history locking users account, asking for verification and tracing transaction.
This kind of problem never happened to anyone who used blockchain.info - mainly because. Don't be baited by Xapo's "no transaction fees" marketing.

And it's never going to happen with blockchain.info because they simply can't just "freeze" your account like others can. With blockchain users retain full control of their private keys, so their wallets can never be seized or blocked and can be imported into any desktop Bitcoin client if blockchain.info was to go down.

[Herbert2020]

Sorry to say but i only had to read the first line to see where you went wrong, you used an online wallet to store bitcoins.

Not every online wallet is the same. Only Xapo, Coinbase and Circle have history locking users account, asking for verification and tracing transaction.
This kind of problem never happened to anyone who used blockchain.info - mainly because. Don't be baited by Xapo's "no transaction fees" marketing.

And it's never going to happen with blockchain.info because they simply can't just "freeze" your account like others can. With blockchain users retain full control of their private keys, so their wallets can never be seized or blocked and can be imported into any desktop Bitcoin client if blockchain.info was to go down.

that is correct but still it doesn't mean using blockchain.info is a safe thing. a web wallet in the least unsafe wallet of all choices and making it like blockchain.info means you only control the private keys aka have access to them but it still does not mean you are safe from hacks, you password being cracked, or having a keylogger that steals your sensitive information.

[CraigWrightBTC]

Well i think we must use online wallet and offline wallet and never put bitcoin on one place, personality i used online wallet just for short time ( usually for trading and small amount ) and i used offline wallets for save my other coins, so i have the private key.

[bitkilo]

Sorry to say but i only had to read the first line to see where you went wrong, you used an online wallet to store bitcoins.

Not every online wallet is the same. Only Xapo, Coinbase and Circle have history locking users account, asking for verification and tracing transaction.
This kind of problem never happened to anyone who used blockchain.info - mainly because. Don't be baited by Xapo's "no transaction fees" marketing.

And it's never going to happen with blockchain.info because they simply can't just "freeze" your account like others can. With blockchain users retain full control of their private keys, so their wallets can never be seized or blocked and can be imported into any desktop Bitcoin client if blockchain.info was to go down.

that is correct but still it doesn't mean using blockchain.info is a safe thing. a web wallet in the least unsafe wallet of all choices and making it like blockchain.info means you only control the private keys aka have access to them but it still does not mean you are safe from hacks, you password being cracked, or having a keylogger that steals your sensitive information.

Yes of course and a good point to mention. If you can't control your private keys safely then it really isn't going to matter where you keep you bitcoins, unless in cold storage they are going to be at risk.

[btccashacc]

Well i think we must use online wallet and offline wallet and never put bitcoin on one place, personality i used online wallet just for short time ( usually for trading and small amount ) and i used offline wallets for save my other coins, so i have the private key.

I completly agree with you, i personally holding small amount on my blockchain account for spendable purpose, and the rest i mean huge amount on offline or hardware wallet like paper wallet, i won't store my bitcoin either in xapo or coinbase since i had bad experience with them, better to storing your bitcoin where you can controll your own private key.

[CHRISBIN702]

Thank you all for your insight on this topic. Since I opened this thread I've taken control of MY Bitcoin by getting it out of the online wallets (mostly, I admit to keeping a small amount I in my Coinbase wallet) and into my own.  Thanks for chiming in everyone.

[bitbunnny]

Xapo has strenghten their policy very much because of anti money laundering policies and other obligations they have. If you want to use their services you have to be fuly verified, there is not other choice and they will not make exceptions.
Their debit card is great to use but it has it's price, a part of your privacy. But if they want to run a legitimate business they have to ask you all this data.

[bitkilo]

Thank you all for your insight on this topic. Since I opened this thread I've taken control of MY Bitcoin by getting it out of the online wallets (mostly, I admit to keeping a small amount I in my Coinbase wallet) and into my own.  Thanks for chiming in everyone.

There should be nothing wrong with keeping a small amount in an online wallet and can be quite helpful if connected to a bitcoin debit card,  just never use it to store the bulk of your funds.

For cold storage a Trezor would be a good option or a ledger hardware wallet, KeepKey also looks like a good choice.
If using a paper wallet just make sure you creat it on an offline computer, if not created safly then your funds may always be at risk.

Good luck!

[CHRISBIN702]

I will check out your recommendations. I really appreciate all the help from this community. There is no other like it.

[passivebesiege]

Xapo has strenghten their policy very much because of anti money laundering policies and other obligations they have. If you want to use their services you have to be fuly verified, there is not other choice and they will not make exceptions.
Their debit card is great to use but it has it's price, a part of your privacy. But if they want to run a legitimate business they have to ask you all this data.

I don't know and no one send me email that we needed to full verified using xapo now. Last time I use xapo a month ago and I donot have any problem using it. But if they need to be fully verified I will not use it again for sure.

[CHRISBIN702]

Xapo has strenghten their policy very much because of anti money laundering policies and other obligations they have. If you want to use their services you have to be fuly verified, there is not other choice and they will not make exceptions.
Their debit card is great to use but it has it's price, a part of your privacy. But if they want to run a legitimate business they have to ask you all this data.

I don't know and no one send me email that we needed to full verified using xapo now. Last time I use xapo a month ago and I donot have any problem using it. But if they need to be fully verified I will not use it again for sure.

Yeah, I was using it daily. Then out of nowhere, one morning I was unable to even see my wallet. They were helpful in the sudden verification process and because of this thread, they changed the way they notify their users and reworded the emails they were sending out.
  Thanks to BitcoinTalk.org we are able to bring light to these situations. Thanks to the community.

[bitkilo]

I will check out your recommendations. I really appreciate all the help from this community. There is no other like it.

If you want to try another bitcoin forum with less spammers and scammers come to forum.bitcoin.com, it's still a growing community of bitcoin enthusiasts.

Yeah, I was using it daily. Then out of nowhere, one morning I was unable to even see my wallet. They were helpful in the sudden verification process and because of this thread, they changed the way they notify their users and reworded the emails they were sending out.
  Thanks to BitcoinTalk.org we are able to bring light to these situations. Thanks to the community.

Were you able to move your funds?

[CHRISBIN702]

Yes I was. My situation was very complicated too. It took about 24 hours and many, many, steps to prove myself. But customer support was helpful and answered most emails within an hour. I inserted links to thread in every email.

[alani123]

You call that holding bitcoins hostage? You were given a couple of perfectly viable options to recover your funds fully, I don't really understand what the issue it. Xapo is a private company and their ToS clearly states that they reserve the right to do this.

[CHRISBIN702]

I would suggest reading through the thread before commenting. It wasn't about my inability to access my funds as clearly stated in my second post. It was about the sudden change in policy that happened without proper notification. As it states in their ToU's, they are able to change their terms at any time without the need for users to re-accept them. It also states that they must notify users of any change in the terms. They told this to me. Apologized. Then they changed how their notifications were going out to users. They even reworded it, thanks to this thread. I'm a ToU junky. I read those for fun.

[alani123]

I would suggest reading through the thread before commenting. It wasn't about my inability to access my funds as clearly stated in my second post. It was about the sudden change in policy that happened without proper notification. As it states in their ToU's, they are able to change their terms at any time without the need for users to re-accept them. It also states that they must notify users of any change in the terms. They told this to me. Apologized. Then they changed how their notifications were going out to users. They even reworded it, thanks to this thread. I'm a ToU junky. I read those for fun.

Good for you. I've actually also fallen into trouble due to inaccuracies in the ToS major services (namely Coinbase) but they were professional enough to privately notify my of the newer updates I should be aware of and let me go with a warning in spite of having breaken the newer version of their ToS. Admittedly your title is a bit clickbaity but if you say that Xapo changed their ToU because of it then I guess that it served a special purpose.

[CHRISBIN702]

Yes. I admit to trying to draw attention to this thread with my title.I get a bit defensive and could use some practice accepting constructive criticism. Thanks again to everyone. Glad to have a Legendary member here.